Heirlooms: Charles M. Kenyon's Violin and Phebe (Hunt) Vandervort's Piano

Photo Note:  Click on any image to view the full size photo.

My mother, Kathleen Kenyon, and her siblings grew up in post-Depression poverty in rural, Monroe County, Wisconsin. There was no indoor plumbing. No electricity. What heat there was in -30 Wisconsin winters came from a single wood burning stove in their living area, and a wood fueled cast iron range in the kitchen.

The house had been built almost 70 years before in 1872. It was run down, unpainted, and absolutely worn on every surface. But the family was happy to be there. After moving from house to house, after WWI, each of the children born in different homes as their parents worked hard to stay ahead of the rent payments, my grandfather had finally been able to purchase back what was the old Kenyon homestead farm on a land contract which we would call today, rent to own. The farm, which my grandfather had grown up on, had been sold out of the family over 20 years earlier by his father.

There simply was no money for any type of extravagance.

My grandfather, Charles M. Kenyon, and his father, Lou, played violin, guitar, piano, and other instruments totally by ear. They were widely respected for their talent and often played at barn dances and at the community hall.  The fiddle Charlie played was a "Stradivarius" model and had been ordered from the Sears catalog ca.1895-1900 when my grandfather was a boy and the used guitar had been picked up sometime after that. The family did not own a piano. 

Charles Kenyon with his fiddle, ca 1945-50.

Inherited by Charles' grandson, Rodney Kenyon in 1963.

Singing around the guitar and dancing around the fiddle at home in the evenings was a big part of my mother's family's entertainment in the little free time they had from working the farm.

From that point in my story, I will let my Uncle Jim Kenyon's voice take over in a story he shared in his book, "A Record of my Yester-Years"… 

Great Grandma passed away on a Monday in July 1932. Before that time, she gave a wonderful gift to our family. She purchased a brand new Brunswick piano. She wanted (my sister) Doris to take piano lessons, which she did. 

She knew that Dad and Grandpa both played the piano. She also knew that it would bring a lot of good times, singing around the piano, for the family; and it did. That was our entertainment center when company came.

There sure was quite a contrast in our old house, between the old gray wooden benches, unvarnished tables, potbellied stove, bare wood floors, and this beautiful new piano.

Thank-you, Grandma. We had a lot of happy times singing and dancing around your beautiful piano. You brought us many years of happiness in a not so happy era. You brought us many stories to brighten up our dull days; and you made us laugh. You gave us love and continuity with our generations long since passed. 

I remember you, with your frail body and stooped shoulders. I remember you, with your smiling face and the love you delivered to our family.

That piano was known as Phebe's Piano after Phebe (Hunt) Vandervort and was inherited by her grandson, Glen (Shookman) Kenyon and had a place of honor in his family's home until 2014 when my aunt died and it passed out of the family.

Phebe (Hunt) Vandervort, 1851-1932.

ca.1925

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Walking Where Others Walked

They say, "you can't go home again". It may be true. But sometimes the places and the people come together to give you that moment in time that brings it all near in our hearts again. My sisters and I made a whirlwind pilgrimage trip to the area where my Mom was raised, and where she is buried. Dad, who loved Mom's huge family, and my Mom, the youngest of eight children, always made sure we got back to Tomah on a regular basis when we were growing up: teaching us the importance of family and place. 

There have been casual reunions among the "Kenyon Clan" all through my lifetime. Many weekend visits where we would farm ourselves out to stay with our various cousins, sometimes meeting at a campground or on the side of the road where we would swap siblings for cousins or swap them back again. Others were slightly more organized family picnics and semi-reunions over the years. But we came together. We not only knew who each other were, we knew each other. Mother and her siblings were born over a 16-year period from 1916-1932, and their children were born spread out from 1937 through 1966. There are thirty-one first cousins in my generation, and thanks be, twenty-nine of us are still living although our parents have all gone home to their eternal reward.

As the years passed, we grew up, and we brought families in tow for those picnics and reunions, when we could. And we did make it happen when we could. Later picnics, the photo albums would come out and the stories would be told to many listening ears. 

This photo is of the last time my Mom and her siblings were all together at a family get together. They all cherished their time with each other; holding an empty chair each time they were together in memory of their sister, Doris, who had died in 1965. 

Glen, Jeanette, Helen Joy

Doris' chair, Kyle, Veva

Jim and Katie

"The Kenyon Kids"

NOTE:  Click on any of the photos in the blog to view in a larger size.

I made the decision this spring to make a quick trip back to the Midwest.  I always do my best to make the trip up the country highways from Dubuque to Tomah to visit Mom's grave and any cousins that might be around.  This time I gave them all a little notice and they turned out big time just to get the chance to see each other for one meal, one evening to spend together.  We represented several cities and towns in Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Alaska and South Carolina, all with a family toe hold in Monroe County, Wisconsin.

Back row:  

Craig Storkel, Dennis Hart, Jason Hart, Viki Von Fumetti, Jim Storkel, Gregg Evans, 

Lisa Von Fumetti, and Mike Kelley

Middle row:

Xena Kenyon, Thom Kelley, Helen Kenyon, John Kenyon, Jean Kelley, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Sally (Mauer) Kelley and Jenn Kozelka

Forward Row:

Liliana Kenyon, Chas. Kenyon, Kelly Kenyon, Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick

Front:

Della (Yarbrough) Koenig, Donna Faye (Kelley) Evans, and Steve Adams

Several of us were able to spend the night in a local hotel, met up for breakfast the next morning and some much-needed coffee after the late night. Then we got into our cars and went to say hello to our parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and several ancestors. 

Mom's family and ancestors have deep roots in Wisconsin going back to the 1844 Wisconsin Territory, and Daniel Crane Purdy was the first of our line to settle in the valley that would go on to carry his name, Purdy Valley, in 1859. There are two cemeteries nearby, La Grange and Greenwood Cemeteries. 

Walking to the top of the hill in La Grange Cemetery and looking to the west you can see the hills that roll into what was once Purdy Valley. The oldest graves top the hill and the markers of the descendants of those first burials trail down the hill, many almost by family lines.

We started at the lower side of the cemetery to visit Mom and her family first. Mom wanted to be buried "back home" and we did everything we could do to make that happen with special help from our cousin, Chas. Kenyon, who had his parents, Kyle and Xena, moved to rest one over the other, to make room for Mom. Kyle and Mom were especially close, and I know she is content to be near him in death.

Kathleen Karyl (Kenyon) Von Fumetti was born in 1932 in a small log cabin in Purdy Valley.

"I Loved You So, 'Twas Heaven Here With You"

Mom loved irises and reading. The marker honors those memories.

L to R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Viki Von Fumetti

Four of the children of Charles Martin and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon lie in a row along the lower edge of the family plot. Buried here (in order) are Jim and Bernice (Barrett) Kenyon; Veva (Kenyon) Von der Ohe Stillwell Kenyon; Kathleen (Kenyon) Von Fumetti; and Kyle and Xena (Cade) Kenyon.

Kenyon Siblings & wives

On the upper side of the family plot lie our grandparents, Charles M. and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon and our great-grandparents, Louis and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon

Left to right:

My grandparents:

Charles Martin Kenyon, born in Purdy Valley in 1889.

Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon born 1895 and moved to Monroe County as a child about 1903.

My great-grandparents and Charles' parents:

Louis Avery Kenyon was born 1866 in Orleans County, New York and came 

with his parents in 1872 to Purdy Valley.

Gertrude Inez (Vandervort) Kenyon was born 1872 in Purdy Valley.

From there, we started climbing up the hill towards our Vandervort ancestors who are buried in a family line going up the slope in the cemetery.

My 2nd great-grandfather and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon's father:

Martin Luther Vandervort born 1844 in Oneida County, New York, joined his parents 

in Purdy Valley following the Civil War.

My 2nd great-grandmother and Gertrude's mother:

Phebe Jeanette "Nettie" (Hunt) Vandervort, born 1851 in Valparaiso, Indiana, moving to Wisconsin about 1857, marrying Martin in Milwaukee, then moving to Purdy Valley about 1870.

Continuing on up the hill to say hello next to our 3rd great-grandparents:

Jacob Vandervoort was born 1820 in Schoharie County, New York.  Jacob and his wife, Louisa, moved to Wisconsin at the end of the Civil War and were living in Purdy Valley before 1875.

Louisa (Eastman) Vandervort was born 1819 in upstate New York and accompanied her husband, Jacob to Wisconsin, living out the end of a long life in Purdy Valley.

The last grouping of Vandervoort graves at the top of the hill include my 4th great-grandfather, James Robert Vandervoort and his second wife, Mary (Baker) Vandervoort, as well as those of Jacob's half-brothers, Cornelius, Isaac and James Vandervort and members of their families.

James R. Vandervoort born 1789 in Fishkill, New York, married first to Rebecca McIntyre about 1812. Rebecca was the mother of Jacob, John, William, and Abigail.  Rebecca died about 1831 in Schoharie County, New York. James remarried to Mary (Baker) Moon, a widow, about 1832. Together they brought their family to the Wisconsin Territory in 1844. They moved to Purdy Valley in 1868.

Mary (Baker) Moon Vandervoort was born 1804 in New York

From this vantage point just at the crest of the hill, Purdy Valley, the home of all the ancestors above, was to the west about a mile.  The U.S. Government took Purdy Valley by eminent domain for the expansion of Camp McCoy in 1941 and the community of Purdy Valley was destroyed in that process.

Looking over the cemetery from the top of the hill you can see about eight hundred graves. It would not be an exaggeration to say that most of the people buried there are related in some way to the Kenyon, Vandervort and Purdy families, and most probably did live in, or near, Purdy Valley during their lifetimes.

On our walk back down the hill, we stopped to visit Uncle Royal and Aunt Doris, my mother's oldest sister and daughter of Charles and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon.

Doris (Kenyon) Hart was born in Purdy Valley in 1916.  

She married Royal Hart in 1937 and they lived in Tomah and later moved to the Milwaukee area.

L-R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Craig Storkel, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt

Photo taken by Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick.

Relaxing before heading to Greenfield Cemetery.

Purdy Valley sits to the west side of LaGrange Cemetery on the corner of Highway M and Elgin Avenue. Greenfield Cemetery sits to the south, near the mouth of the valley along Hwy 21. More of our Kenyon and Purdy ancestors are buried there and we headed there next.

Most of our ancestors in this cemetery are buried along the furthest west entrance drive to the cemetery.

The original Kenyon family to move to Purdy Valley were Charles and Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon, my 2nd great-grandparents.  They are the parents of Louis Avery Kenyon who was buried in LaGrange Cemetery.

Charles Wesley Kenyon was born in 1837 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.

Charles and Adelaide moved with their family to Purdy Valley in 1867 after the Civil War.

Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon was born in 1843 in Allen, Allegany, New York.

She is the daughter of Daniel Crane Purdy and his first wife, Keziah Gould.

Daniel Crane Purdy was born 1820 in Onondaga County, New York.

His second wife, Susan (Savage) Purdy was born in Madison County, New York.

They moved to Wisconsin in 1859 with six of their children.

Purdy Valley was named after Daniel and his family.

Daniel "Avery" Purdy was born in 1859 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.

A babe in arms when the family headed overland to Wisconsin, he died in 1862.

Click the link below for a video of some of us enjoying our time together at Greenfield Cemetery.

Cousins at Greenfield Cemetery

Compiled by Kelley (Evans) Stiles

Back: Pat (Froekle) Hart, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Dennis Hart, Lisa Von Fumetti, 

Craig Storkel, Helen Kenyon, Viki Von Fumetti

Middle:  Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Jean Kelley.

Front: Jason Hart

Two cemeteries are on the South side of Tomah, and we headed there before heading back to Iowa.  Oak Grove and St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery sit side by side on Superior Avenue (Highway 131).

Entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery

Frank Storkel was born in 1912 in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Jeanette (Kenyon) Storkel born 1926 in Millston, Wisconsin, is my mother's sister.

Frank and Jeanette's son, my cousin, David Storkel was born 1955 in Tomah.

Entrance to the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery 

Frederick "Fritz" Kelley was born 1910 in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Helen Joy (Kenyon) Kelley was born 1928 in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin.

Helen is one of my mother's sisters.

Mom had one other sibling, Glen Kenyon, born 1920 in Tunnel City, Wisconsin who along with his wife, Dolores (Siekert) Kenyon are buried in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Sparta, Wisconsin.

Today we walked where others walked

On a lonely, windswept hill;

Today we talked where others cried

For Loved Ones whose lives are stilled.

Today our hearts were touched

By graves of tiny babies;

Snatched from the arms of loving kin,

In the heartbreak of the ages.

Today we saw where the grandparents lay

In the last sleep of their time;

Lying under the trees and clouds -

Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.

Today we wondered about an unmarked spot;

Who lies beneath this hallowed ground?

Was it a babe, child, young or old?

No indication could be found.

Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay.

We had been here once before

On a day we'd all like to forget,

But will remember forever more.

Today we recorded for kith and kin

The graves of ancestors past;

To be preserved for generations hence,

A record we hope will last.

Cherish it, my friend; preserve it, my friend,

For stones sometimes crumble to dust

And generations of folks yet to come

Will be grateful for your trust.

"The Recording of a Cemetery"

by Thelma Greene Reagan

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Grandma Kenyon's Favorite Recipes

My grandmother, Harriet Shookman Kenyon, was known far and wide for a lot of her own special recipes, particularly her Deviled Food Cake, Doughnuts, Angel Food Cake, and a wide variety of pickles.  Hattie likely knew how to make most of them from repetition and memory.  Sadly, I have only one of those recipes in her handwriting, that of her homemade doughnuts.

Hattie kept a scrapbook*** with a wide variety of clippings, cards, announcements, and hand-written pieces of paper that she assembled over the years.  She glued them on to the pages with care so that the reverse side could be seen, or a folded piece of paper could be opened.  Scattered through the book are a variety of recipes that she obviously treasured and I am sharing them here.  Some of them may be her own recipes as they are not identified, but others come from her mother and sisters, distant relatives, and friends in the community.  

Many of these types of recipes are no longer in use as very few people today do extensive baking let alone need to, or even want to, make their own catsup, pickles, or wall-paper cleaner.  During the post WWI to Depression era when Hattie's collection was assembled it was important to use up bacon fat or the last of the stale bread that was made a few days ago so that the precious ingredients would not go to waste and allow you to stretch your larder as well as your hard-to-come-by cash money.  

The assortment of recipes gives a picture of a life vastly different from today.  These are foods and customs that played a social role in a time now long past.  Many people have lost the knowledge and the eagerness that delayed gratification brings of biting into the first fruits and vegetables of a given season and the recipes that sprang from them, the delight of the special recipes that only a neighbor could make for the town festival, such as Hattie's Deviled Food Cake; and the richness of choice and taste that came from each region's way of using what was produced close to home.  These recipes are time transporters.  Find one and give it a try.  You will be giving yourself the gift of a past memory.

Click the images to enlarge them.

Bread Sponge Cake (front and back)

The ranch cook that is referred to in this recipe may have been the cook at the Ingleside Club and Resort near Phoenix that Hattie and sisters, Lura and Ina, worked during the winters of 1910/11 and 1913/14.  For information on how bakers of a century ago made a typical bread sponge, go to https://vintagerecipesandcookery.com/what-is-a-bread-sponge/ This would have been a yeast-raised cake rather than one made with baking soda or baking powder.

Cheese Biscuits and "Salma-Gundi" Salad

Harriet obviously had the help of a little one with a pencil while baking one day!

Note that there is no temperature for baking the biscuits as it is likely that a wood or coal oven was used.  It was not until sometime after the 1935 New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration (REA) paved the way for electrical power to be made available.  The first REA service in Wisconsin was on 7 May 1937 and Purdy Valley would have followed at some point after that.

Cream Pie and Butterscotch Pie

There are two recipes for cream pie, each would have made use of fresh milk either by skimming the cream that rose to the top in unhomogenized milk or using what was left depending on what the family had available to use after other cooking and baking.  The last two recipes are credited to "M.R.G" who may possibly be Eva (Martin) Griffin.

Sugar Cookies, Ice Box Cookies and Mock Angel Food Cake

These recipes were shared with Hattie.  The Sugar Cookie recipe came from her younger sister, Gladys Shookman, the Ice Box Cookie recipe came from her oldest sister, Lura Shookman Harris, and the Mock Angel Food Cake recipe from Lettie Purdy Hart, one of Charles Kenyon's many cousins living in the Purdy Valley area.  Ice Box Cookies would indeed have been chilled in an ice box in the day before electrified refrigeration.

Favorite Cucumber Pickles (Chunk Pickles)

Harriet was well known for her own pickle recipes, but this is one shared with her by her sister Hazel "Ina" Shookman Beran.  They must have been fabulous to be worth all the time and effort!

Sweet Sour Pickles and Molasses Drop Cookies

Another pickle recipe from Harriet's sister, Ina.  These were one of Harriet's daughter, Kathleen's, favorite pickles.  Lucy Larson, also of Purdy Valley, shared her recipe for Molasses Drop cookies.  They used up the last of the milk after it had soured.  

Jelly Roll

Shared by Rena Jeffers.  This recipe assumes that the cook knew how hot the wood or coal oven should be running, how long to bake it, know when it was done and how to turn it into a Jelly Roll when finished!  

Salad Dressing - Soft Molasses Cookies - Date Filled Cookies

Bottled salad dressings were not yet available.  Shared by Lettie Purdy Hart.

One of my favorite cookies as a child were Date Filled Cookies.  Harriet's daughter, and my mother, Kathleen made these occasionally.  

Apple Sauce Cake

The only baking instructions are to bake "slowly" for about 40 minutes.  Harriet had to make this cake while the oven was cooling down and before adding fresh fuel to the fire.  This recipe came from Lura Shookman Harris.

Picalilli & Grape Nut Bread

Picalilli is a cooked salad or relish recipe from Lura Shookman Harris to be canned for use in the winter when fresh vegetables would be scarce.  The Grape Nut Bread came from "P.J.V." who may be Phebe Jeanette Vandervort, grandmother to Harriet's husband, Charles.

Tomato Mince Meat

Made while waiting for the tomatoes and apples to ripen in the garden and on the tree.  Sister, Lura, shared this recipe for a pie filling.  This was likely a recipe that was meant to be canned as a peck of both the green tomatoes and green apples was used.

Peanut Butter Betty

A good use for stale bread which was often on hand as homemade bread had no preservatives. 

It serves 6 people, "polite" servings!

Pop Corn Balls

One of my favorites!  My mother and Harriet's daughter, Kathleen, made these for us when we were small and for treats to pass out for Halloween. Recipe shared by Rena Jeffers.

Tomato Catsup

The recipe page is dated September 29, 1933 and the first one is shared by Elsie Kuthlow and the second by Mrs. Bill Griffin.  Both took 2-3 hours of cooking on the stove before eventually being canned and sealed in jars for future use. 

Wall Paper Cleaner

This is quite a recipe which includes kerosene and ammonia and then cooking in a double boiler!

White Cookies - Mother's Ginger Snaps

What a treasure the Ginger Snap recipe must have been to Harriet and her family, as her mother, Dora Manley Shookman, passed in 1921.  Dora's 4th to 6th generation descendants are now living.

Ginger Refrigerator Cookies

This is one of Harriet's more recent recipes.  It calls for two things which were not likely available in the farmhouse in Purdy Valley:  a refrigerator and an oven that could be set at 375 degrees.  This was also a recipe using whatever farm products might be available with the bacon drippings or lard.  Crisco became available for the first time in 1911 but would have been an expensive convenience.

 ***Harriet's scrapbook was inherited by Helen (Kenyon) Kelley, then inherited by Jean (Kelley) Gluege who gifted it to Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt for preservation and use in our shared family history.  

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

The Teacher

 

From Harriet's 1912 Ranch School souvenir booklet.

Harriet Shookman was likely destined to be a teacher.  She was raised by her parents, Samuel and Dora (Manley) Shookman, who obviously valued education for their five daughters enough to encourage them to not only finish school, which was 8th grade at that time, but to go on for additional training to become teachers so that they could support themselves. Hattie's two older sisters were accomplished teachers ahead of her and her two youngest sisters went on to become teachers as well.  In addition, her uncle, Willard Manley, was a schoolteacher, writer and newspaper reporter in Richland County, Wisconsin from the mid-1880's until his death in 1928.

Hattie graduated from 8th grade at age 15 the end of May 1910.  Her teacher that school year was her oldest sister, Lura.   

Below is the monthly report summary for Hattie's last year in school. 
There were three terms to the school year and final exams.
Note that there was no rounding up of the monthly average earned.

What was your score in Orthoepy?***

The reverse side of Hattie's School Report.

Signed by her teacher & sister, Lura Shookman.

Signed monthly by Samuel F. Shookman, Hattie's father.***

Hattie, Lura and Ina all traveled by train to the Arizona Territory shortly after Hattie's graduation and family stories indicate that they all worked at Ingleside Club and Resort just north of Phoenix.  The resort opened for business in the winter of 1910 and the girls were some of the earliest employees at the resort.  It was a winter season resort only due to lack of air-conditioning and according to the Arizona Memory Project, "it featured a main building, cottages, a rough golf course and a full range of guest activities".  The girls probably lived on the resort property but their Uncle Bert Manley's family and cousins lived about ten miles away in Phoenix.  Hattie told her daughter, Kathleen, that she was in Arizona for about a year or a little longer.  

The Ingleside Resort in 1910 when it opened.
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/splimage/id/41/

Lura, Ina and Harriet Shookman

Believed to have been taken in Arizona in 1910 or 1911.

According to her daughter, Kathleen, Harriet followed 8th grade by attending the Teachers' Normal school in Sparta taking a six week course, probably after her return from Arizona in the spring or summer of 1911.  Hattie sat for her first Teacher's Certificate exam in August 1911 in Sparta, Wisconsin to become certified as a "Third Grade Teacher".  She signed her first teaching contract at the age of 16 with the Town of New Lyme in Monroe county on 11 September 1911 with an agreement that she would teach for 8 months at a starting salary of $30 a month. 

Hattie's first Teacher's Certificate showing that she qualified as a "Third Grade" Teacher 

on 19 August 1911 demonstrating that she was able to teach elementary school in a wide variety of subjects.  This certificate also acknowledges Hattie's six weeks of Professional School.**

Hattie signed a contract with the Monroe County, Wisconsin School District as an elementary teacher in the Town of New Lyme at Ranch School.  The contract was for eight months and the agreement was to pay her $240 for the school year, or $30 a month.  Signed 5 September 1911.**

The contract (split over two pages in Hattie's scrapbook)  reflects the scores she received when she took the certification exam.  Although this form says that Hattie was 17 years of age, she actually was only 16 at this time and had no previous teaching experience.**

Hattie attended a 10-day Teachers Institute at the Normal School during the summer of 1912 and took the yearly test to be certified as a teacher again that August for both the Third and Second Grade levels now entitling her to teach some high school level courses.  Many of her exam scores increased dramatically in addition to her becoming certified for teaching at a higher grade level in new subjects.  The Town of Greenfield offered her a position at the Purdy Valley School for both the first and second halves of the school year, September 1912 - May 1913.  During that same year, sister Lura taught at Union Valley School and Ina taught at La Crosse Valley School.  All three girls celebrated the end of the school year with a picnic joining the students of all three schools.

Hattie's 1912 Teacher's Certificate for Third and Second Grade levels.

She qualified to teach additional course work in American Literature, English Composition, Physical Geography and Cataloging of Libraries.

This certificate acknowledges that Hattie had taught 8 months prior to this year and that she attended a Teacher's Institute for 10 days during the summer of 1912.**

Harriet holding the reins to her father's team of horses, sitting with sister, Ina 

in front of her first school building, Ranch School, Town of New Lyme.***

Hattie signed two separate contracts with Monroe County for the school year 1912-1913.  She was moving on to another school in the Town of Greenfield known as Purdy Valley School.  With this agreement, Hattie received a raise in pay to $38 per month.  Among several signatures representing the District School Board was that of Louis Avery Kenyon who would become Hattie's father-in-law three years later.**

Harriet Shookman with her students standing in front of Purdy Valley School 6 May 1913.***

A year end school celebration was held in May 1913 combining the students from the three schools taught by Hattie and her sisters:

Harriet Shookman, age 18 - Purdy Valley School

Ina Shookman, age 21 - La Crosse Valley School

Lura Shookman, age 23 - Union Valley School

There are two women in the front row.  The one kneeling on the left is Ina Shookman and Harriet is seated almost center in the front row.

Lura Shookman is standing just beneath and to the right of the La Crosse Valley School banner.***

Harriet, along with Lura and Ina again took the train west to Arizona sometime after the end of the school term about May 1913 and likely returned to work at the Ingleside Resort.  While she was in Phoenix, Harriet sat for the Arizona exam earning a Second Grade Teacher's Certificate.  I have found no record that she taught in Arizona, and there is no family story that she did although she obviously considered doing so.  Her sister, Lura, returned to Monroe County at some point before her marriage on December 23rd, 1913.  The picture below is believed to have been taken on this trip west.

Ina, Harriet, and Lura Shookman (L to R)

Likely taken in Arizona ca. 1913, possibly in uniforms for the Ingleside Club

Postcard of the Ingleside Club near Phoenix, Arizona.*** 

Harriet's Arizona Teacher's Certificate awarded December 1, 1913.**

Harriet was back in Wisconsin to stay by late summer 1914 when she sat again that August for her teacher's certificate, picking up a new qualification in Economics.  Although a copy of that year's contract is not in the family's possession, Kathleen verified that her mother did teach a 3rd year at Purdy Valley School from Sept 1914- May 1915.  

Harriet's 1914 Teacher's Certification from Monroe County.**

The land for the Purdy Valley School was deeded to the school district on 11 September 1911 by Louis Avery Kenyon for $1.  The school yard was carved out of the original Charles W. Kenyon homestead farm in Section 5 and was adjacent to the family farm.  In an e-mail written by Bessie Kmiecik in 2014:

According to the deeds that I have in my possession, Mr. L. Kenyon deeded the parcel of land to the school district on 11 Sept 1911. There is a previous location which was deeded to the district by an Ellen Elizabeth Hart. in 1906. The cost of each parcel was just one dollar. I have another little slip of paper which gives the dimensions of the school as 20 by 42 feet. The two toilets or "latrines" were both 10 by 12 feet and were valued at $15 dollars each. The school building, known as District # 4, Monroe county, was of brick construction. 

Living at the adjacent Kenyon farm when Harriet started teaching in Purdy Valley was her future husband, Charles Kenyon, his father Louis Avery Kenyon and Louis' widowed mother, Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon.  Adelaide made her home with the two men after the death of her husband, Charles W. Kenyon and the death of Louis' wife and Charlie's mother, Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon, both in 1910.  

Although Harriet never taught school again after her marriage, she followed in her Uncle Willard's footsteps and wrote social articles for the local newspapers about life in the Town of Greenfield which she published over several years. 

Even though Charles left school before graduating from 8th grade when he was about 14 years old, Harriet and Charles were a strong force in the push for the education of all 8 of their children.  Their family lived and farmed in Purdy Valley, a rural area of the Town of Greenfield which was several miles from the high school in Tomah.  Every Monday during the school year, Charlie would take the high school age children into Tomah where they boarded with their great-aunt Cora (Kenyon) Heser during the week.  He would pick them up on Friday afternoons to return to the farm for the weekend.  The oldest 5 children, Doris, Veva, Glen, Kyle, Jim, and Jeanette all attended high school this way starting in 1933 through the fall of 1941.  Helen and Kathleen attended high school after the family moved into Tomah in October 1941.  The importance of the education of all their children was apparent despite the fact that it came at a cost to the family because they were not home during the week to help with the work output on the farm or the home at the height of the Great Depression.  

Two of Charles and Harriet's children went on to college, the first on either side of their families to do so.  Kyle attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and earned a law degree.  Kathleen attended 3 semesters of college at UW-Madison, partly on scholarship and through the loving high school graduation gift from Kyle of $50 which helped pay tuition in addition to income she earned while in school.  Although Kathleen left college after the middle of her sophomore year due to lack of sufficient funding available for her to continue, she returned to college in the fall of 1981 and graduated from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa with a B.A. in Computers and Accounting.  

*From the collection of Jean (Kelley) Gluege, grand-daughter of Harriet.

**Harriet's Teachers Certificates and teaching contracts are found in a scrapbook that she put together of memorable papers from her early life.  The scrapbook was inherited by Helen (Kenyon) Kelley, then inherited by Jean (Kelley) Gluege who gifted it to Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt for preservation and use in our shared family history.  

***From the collection of Dolores (Siekert) Kenyon, daughter-in-law of Harriet

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

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